


the sun from the horizon's quite the view

by lostintranslaation



Series: Touching Heaven [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Astronomy, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Mentioned Peter Parker, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Stargazing, no beta here ladies and gents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-17 23:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21951259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostintranslaation/pseuds/lostintranslaation
Summary: After Tony's return from Titan, he often finds himself looking up at the night sky to feel closer to Peter. One day, he teaches the same thing to Morgan.Title is from "Long Gone" by Johnnyswim.This work is a part of a series. I recommend that you read it in order. (But you do you boo boo)
Relationships: Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Touching Heaven [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577413
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	the sun from the horizon's quite the view

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas everybody! As you can see, I've put this work in my "Touching Heaven" series. As of right now, this'll just be a oneshot, but I wanted to add it before I upload chapter 9 of "CTPaTS" on Saturday, because it kind of ties in and I wanted to give a little more background. It's SUPER short, but that's okay. Enjoy!

299,792,458 meters per second. That’s the speed of light in a vacuum. Tony had heard it said that looking up at the night sky was like looking into the past. And technically, that’s true. The next closest star to Earth other than the Sun is Alpha Centauri, and it is so far away that the light from it takes over four years to reach Earth. In the same manner, most of those twinkling lights in the night sky are well over four years old. Sometimes Tony wished he could turn back the clock, go back to another time in his life to amend mistakes and make things right with people. Go back to when the stars in the sky shone in real time. 

  
  


Morgan’s cries broke through the first quiet moment that Tony and Pepper had gotten that day. Pepper sighed and reached forward to set her wine glass on the coffee table, but Tony stopped her. “I got her. You go take a bath. Relax.”

Morgan was six months old and Tony was finally starting to feel like himself again. The crushing weight of his child _dying_ in his arms was beginning to lighten. It had been almost a year since Titan. A year without Peter.

Pepper had been so strong in that year. When Tony wasn’t able to carry the weight of his own grief, she was strong enough for the both of them. She was Tony’s rock. So lately, Tony had been trying to pick up the slack he'd let fall recently. 

“Thanks hon,” she smiled and walked upstairs. Tony walked over to Morgan’s room, where she was still wailing.

He took a deep breath before he opened the door. He’d never been a man known for his patience and Morgan was a particularly fussy baby. He took the plunge and pushed the door open. “Hey Little Miss,” he picked her up from her crib and cradled her, bouncing her in his arms until her wails quieted to whimpers. He continued bouncing her as he walked outside to the deck and took a seat in a reclining camping chair to look up at the night sky. 

“Your brother is up there, _bambina_ ,” he started. “Well, he’s technically not your brother, but… you know.” Morgan liked to fall asleep to the sound of her parent’s voices, so Tony thought maybe if he just talked to her, it would work the same way. “His name is-was Peter. He would have _loved_ you if he could have met you. Like, we're talking full-on adoration. One time I saw him cry over a puppy he saw on his way home from school.” He set her on his lap so that her feet were up against his stomach. “He was a great kid. So intelligent, so quick, so _kind_.” He rubbed her tummy and her eyelids began to droop. “That’s the most important thing, Morguna,” his voice cracked, “Being kind.” Tears welled up in Tony’s eyes and he blinked them back. It was still hard for him to talk about Peter even after all this time. He missed him every single day.

Morgan reached up her hand at the sky, opening and closing her chubby fists at the stars that shone above and Tony massaged her scalp until her whole body relaxed.

“I’ve never really loved astronomy. But I do think that all the constellations are important to know about,” he changed the subject, “That one up there,” he pointed so that she could see and she yawned, “that’s the Big Dipper.” He pointed to another group of stars, “And that one is the Little Dipper.” He continued pointing and explaining all of the constellations that lit up the night sky until her eyelids finally fluttered shut. 

He continued lightly touching her face as he looked up at the sky. He loved her. He loved her with all his heart. More than he could even express. But there was always a part of his heart he reserved for Peter. His first kid. The one who taught him what it means to be smart and humble and goofy and kind. The one who taught him how to be a father. And deep down, Tony knew that he had to get him back.

Whatever it takes.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're an astronomy buff, I sincerely apologize. I... don't really understand astronomy or... science in general. Also, I realize that this wasn't great writing, but I've been so busy recently that this is just how it is. If you have anything I can improve on, drop a comment! Thanks for reading!


End file.
